Ken Kramer
American politician & judge (born 1942)
Kenneth Bentley Kramer (born February 19, 1942) is an American lawyer, politician, and jurist from Colorado. He is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, serving four consecutive terms from 1979 to 1987.
01Early life and education
Born in 1942, in Chicago, Kramer grew up in the city's suburb of Skokie, Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois, and after earning his degree, entered Harvard University, from which he received his Juris Doctor.
02Career
In 1966, he was admitted to the bar, and by 1970, he had risen to the position of assistant district attorney for the state's Fourth Judicial District.
In 1972, Kramer was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives and served for three terms until 1978.
Congress
That year, he was elected to represent the state's 5th congressional district, filling the vacancy left by U.S. Senator-elect William Armstrong. Kramer held the seat for eight years.
Senate race
In 1986, he retired to run for the United States Senate, but lost the election to Democrat Tim Wirth.
03Later career
Kramer returned to Colorado Springs, Colorado to be an attorney in private practice.
Since retiring, Kramer has held several positions. President Ronald Reagan nominated Kramer to be Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller) on June 10, 1988; the United States Senate confirmed Kramer by unanimous consent on October 14, 1988. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush and appointed as a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in 1989. He was chief judge of the court from 2000 until he retired in 2004. He is married to Louise Kotoshirodo Kramer.
04Electoral history
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ken Kramer | 91,933 | 59.78 | |
| Democratic | Gerry Frank | 52,914 | 34.41 | |
| Independent | L.W. Dan Bridges | 8,933 | 5.81 | |
| Total votes | 153,780 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ken Kramer (incumbent) | 177,319 | 72.41 | |
| Democratic | Ed Schreiber | 62,003 | 25.32 | |
| Libertarian | John A. Lanning | 5,578 | 2.27 | |
| Total votes | 244,900 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ken Kramer (incumbent) | 84,479 | 59.55 | |
| Democratic | Thomas Cronin | 57,392 | 40.45 | |
| Total votes | 141,871 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ken Kramer (incumbent) | 163,654 | 78.59 | |
| Democratic | William Geffen | 44,588 | 21.41 | |
| Total votes | 206,242 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tim Wirth | 529,449 | 49.91% | −0.42% | |
| Republican | Ken Kramer | 512,994 | 48.36% | −0.34% | |
| Independent | Michael Martin Bush | 11,127 | 1.05% | ||
| Socialist Workers | Michael R. Chamberlain | 3,756 | 0.35% | ||
| Independent American | Henry John Olshaw | 1,868 | 0.18% | −0.17% | |
| Prohibition | Calvin G. Dodge | 1,571 | 0.15% | ||
| Majority | 16,455 | 1.55% | −0.09% | ||
| Turnout | 1,060,765 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Ken Kramer”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Kenneth B. Kramer, Assistant Secretary of the Army.jpg by Russell Roederer, Public domain
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